Springtime in Normandy
by Javik2187
Summary: After a mysterious portal opened, Commander Shepard and his squad ended up in France 1944 after the Invasion of Normandy. They eventually meet up with Pvt. James Francis Ryan and decided to help him reach his rally point. While Captain Miller and his squad are two steps behind discovering clues along the way.
1. Chapter 1

A portal rip between space & time opens up and a small blue craft flew out from the portal before it collaspes. The blue Alliance colored UT-47A shuttle flew above the green fields of an unknown area, then quietly landed behind a few trees for cover.

"Where are we Lieutenant?" Shepard asked.

"I do not know, but I'm picking up a lot of chatter coming off a radio frequency we haven't used in ages." Lt. Cortez said.

"Let's hear it." Commander Shepard said.

Lt. Cortez opened up the old frequency channel to hear old 1940s swing music playing from the speakers.

"Are you sure that's not some old radio station playing old music?" Garrus asked.

"I don't know, but I wouldn't risk using the radio to communicate for help. Who knows what or who maybe listening."

"I agree. I think we should be the eyes on the ground to see where we are and let Cortez be our eyes in the sky." Garrus suggested.

"Good idea. Grab what you need and let's go." Shepard ordered, then opened the shuttle door.

A green forest was revealed after the shuttle door opened up. Shepard and his team heard the birds chirping and the trees rustling in the wind. The shuttle quickly took off straight into the blue sky after the door closed. Shepard, Garrus, and Javik started on their journey through the woods clutching their rifles in their hands ready for anything or anyone who decides to ambush them. They kept walking for a few miles more through the woods till they see a large open field with yellow and white flowers with tall green grass blowing in the wind. Garrus kept his eyes peeled and looked around for any threats that may come their way till he spots a white bloom in the sky. "Shepard? What is that...Floating in the sky?"

"That is a parachute. Garrus."

"It looks like he's about to land right into that group of trees. He is wearing some kind of uniform. Hmm... Reminds me of that time you took Liara and I to that Human history museum." Garrus said looking through the scope on his rifle.

"What kind of uniform?" Javik asked.

"Tan with an blue and red striped with stars patch and a black patch with an some animal on it." Garrus explained.

Shepard thought about it for a moment then started sprinting over to where the parachute was landing. He spots a young man in wearing a green metal helmet and a tan uniform the same one Garrus described landing into a tree a few inches above him. The soldier pulled out his combat knife to cut the strings from his parachute, making him fall toward the ground making a thud. "Hey? Need a hand?" Shepard asked calmly, holding his hand out.

"Uh, sure. Thanks. Who are you?" The soldier asked, then quickly aimed his rifle at two other people who are out of breath. "I'm Commander Shepard, these are my friends behind me. Primarch Vakarian and Commander Javik." Shepard calmly spoke. "Sir." The soldier saluted to Commander Shepard.

"At ease, Soldier. What's your name?" Asked Shepard.

"Private James Francis Ryan of the 101st Airborne Division." Pvt. Ryan said.

"Alright, private. Do you know where we are?" Shepard asked.

Pvt. Ryan pulled out his small map of France with the date of 1944 on the side, surpising Shepard and his team.

"Hmm. I believe were here a few miles east of Vierville. My rally point is near the Merderet River located at this town of Ramelle." Ryan explained to Shepard and his squad.

"Then that is where we'll go. We'll help you get to your rally point safetly and provide back-up if meet any resistance on the way to Ramelle." Shepard heroically said.

"Thank you sir, I appreciate your help to get me to my rally point. I know the Germans will be expecting me, but they won't be expecting you and...your friend who looks like a bird." Pvt. Ryan stated.

"Then it's settled. Let's move out." Shepard ordered.

Shepard, Javik, Garrus, and Pvt. Ryan walked out following the trails on the map that Pvt. Ryan held in his hands. He looked at the map then looked at his new freind's strange weapons and armor he's never seen before. He knows only Army pilots wear flak armor to protect themselves from enemy flak, but their armor is different...alien in a way.

"Commander? May I ask you a question?" Ryan asked, putting away his map into his pocket.

"Sure. I keep an open door policy. I don't doubt you have many questions for us. Ask away, private." Shepard smiled.

"You and your squad. You all aren't from around here, are you?" Ryan asked.

"Yep. We're not from around here. I'd say, we're from the...future. Yet you might think were all crazy." Shepard laughed.

"No sir. I don't think about that at all. When I first met you, I thought that I must of banged my head on a tree branch." Ryan said.

"Please, call me Shepard. Only refere my title if we meet anyone from your unit. It's up to you, Ryan." Shepard said, flexing his arms.

"Thank you...Shepard." Pvt. Ryan spoke.

"Hey, Ryan? Don't worry about it. We're a pretty close knit team and we worked, lived, and fought many tough...some suicidal battles together. Shepard, Javik and I go way back." Garrus explained.

"Thanks, Vakarian. Hey? What kind of gear..or armor you're wearing?" Ryan asked.

"Heh...please call me Garrus, Ryan. Oh...Hey Shepard? Want to take over from here? I don't want to get to...technical." Garrus said.

"Garrus. You'll be fine. I'll translate it to him in english if you do get technical about armor and weapon calibrations." Shepard giggled.

"Very funny, Shepard." Garrus replied in a humorous tone.

"Calibrations?" Ryan asked in a curious tone.

"Long story. Well, our armor is very advanced. It consists of hard vacummed sealed nano carbon fibers that are woven to create a very hard shell to block or absorb damage from falls, stabbing weapons, and so on. Then our armor is layered with a very strong invisible barrier to absorb or deflect any type of bullet from firearms, blasts from grenades, explosives, and other fun stuff." Garrus explained to a very surprised and amazed young soldier.

"Cool. What about that glowing orange thing on your hand?" Ryan asked.

"Oh. This is called an omni-tool. It has a flashlight, radio, can melt metal, translator, information storage, and including melee combat." Garrus pointed out showing him the omni-blade and the other features.

"That's pretty cool. So, Commander? What are you? Where are you from?" Ryan asked the silent Prothean, who's busy listening to classical music.

"Prothean." Javik spoke.

Pvt. Ryan continued talking with Shepard, Javik, and Garrus while they walked along the large fields and cultivated farmland across France on their way toward Pvt. Ryan's rally point at, Ramelle. Shepard moved his hand up to his ear, then quickly raised up his left hand in a fist.

"Commander? Do you read?"

"Reading you loud and clear, Lieutenant. Status?"

"Shuttle sensors picked up a large radar station not far from your position."

"How far is it?" Shepard asked.

"About half a mile. If you keep walking east you'll see a large metal structure ontop a hill." Lt. Cortez explained.

"Thanks for the heads up, Lieutenant. Come on guys, let's move." Commander Shepard replied.


	2. Chapter 2: Assualt the Radar Bunker

Commander Shepard and his squad quietly moved along the treeline of a small hill. They sat behind the large hill and peeked over the brush covered hill to see a large metal lattice compund bunker sitting ontop of a hill. There were large craters and dead bodies of American soldiers who tried taking the hill before. Garrus unholstered his sniper rifle off from his back to view the large battefield leading up toward the battered radar tower. Looking through his sniper scope, he sees large craters, dead cattle, and the bodies of dead American soldiers who died trying to take the radar bunker. He moved up a little more to see three helmets poking out above a large sandbag bunker holding the trigger of a MG42 machine gun. He moved over to the left see an entrance of a opened trench line leading up toward the bunker door.

*Sigh*"I have bad news." Said Garrus, sitting down.

"Great." Pvt. Ryan said.

"I've counted about six german soldiers bunkered down. They have MG42s in both nests. They cover the entire front end of the field. There is too much cover and I can't get a clean shot." Garrus explained.

"Any good ideas?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah. The bodies of cattle scattered across the field could be used for cover." Said Garrus.

"I have a idea." Pvt. Ryan said, raising his hand.

"Let's hear it private." Shepard ordered.

Ryan looked up nervously at Shepard, Javik, and Garrus. He grabbed his knife to show the plan to Commander Shepard and his team while carving his idea into the mud.

"Okay. Commander, you and Javik run up the hill, while Garrus and I give you covering fire from behind. They'll be expecting me, but not you and your friend." Ryan explained.

"Sounds like a plan. I run up the hill to distract them. Javik. While they're distracted, you hit them with a biotic grenade." Shepard ordered.

"Affirmative!" Javik yelled.

"Let's go!" Commander Shepard ordered running out from cover to run up the hill.

One of the German soldiers looked over the sandbag cover to see a man with a red stripe going up his right arm running towards them. He grabbed the trigger of the MG42 machine gun in front of him and fired waking up the other five german soldiers to action. The 7.92x57mm Mauser rounds pinged off Commander Shepard's kinetic barrier as he rushed up the hill. Shepard reached for cover by a dead cow and waited for a few seconds for his shields to recharge, then ran out back into the incoming gun fire. Pvt. Ryan watched the Commander run up the hill and watched the gun nest being bathed in a blue light as the German soldiers were lifted into the air then smashed back into the ground. Shepard reached the gun nest to see the remains of the German soldiers. Aiming his M-7 Lancer down range, Shepard carefully walked into the trench. Looking for anyone who might ambush him in the trench. "AAGH!" A German soldier screamed as he attacked the heavily armed soldier with the red stripe with his bayonet. Shepard dodged the knife swipe, then countered with a punch to the German's solar plexis, then made a sweeping kick, knocking down the soldier to the dirt floor. They fought for a few minutes till Shepard overpowered the soldier, finishing him off with the omni-blade.

Garrus viewed the battlefield from his sniper scope to see Javik tossing another biotic grenade into the trench, clearing it out. "Well, it looks like the coast is clear, Ryan. Let's move up, but stay close." Garrus wispered to Ryan, before moving up.

A german soldier looked over the sandbags of his bunker to see the land still foggy in his field of view. The sun shined above him and he got to see his shadow on the ground to his left and a much larger and stranger one. He turns around and screamed after seeing the strange bug-like alien in front of him. "Quiet Human!" Javik yelled in German, slapping the soldier across the face to calm him down. Commander Shepard walked through the trench carrying a few Kar98s and a MP-40 in the other.

"Javik. Calm down, let him go. He's scared enough as he his." Shepard calmly ordered, placing the collected weapons into a pile.

"Hey guys. What's going on?" Garrus asked as he walked nearby the trench with Pvt. Ryan walking close behind him.

"I've captured a German Wermatch soldier. While the Commander was in the mist of combat." Javik replied.

"Great. Does he know anything useful?" Pvt. Ryan asked.

Javik spoke to the soldier in German and the soldier replied back to him. They both have a short conversation much to the suprise to Private Ryan, then Javik turned to the rest of the squad.

"Private, may I use your map?" Javik asked nicely.

Private Ryan quietly nodded and gave him the map. Where Javik used his omni-tool to make a holographic model of the map.

"Here, here, and here. According to him, his military are at these three points. He said if we take this trail it would take us straight to the French town of Ramelle, skipping these positions." Javik pointed out on the holomap.

"Good to know. Now the last question. What are we going to do with him? The German?" Pvt. Ryan asked, pointing to the distraught soldier.

"The best thing we can do is give his fellow men and the fallen American soldiers a proper burial, then leave him behind for a American patrol. He surrendered and we're not going to execute an surrendering soldier. Agreed?" Shepard asked looking at Private Ryan who really wanted to put the distraught german soldier out of his misery.

Shepard's squad and the German soldier gave every fallen soldier of the battlefield a proper military burial by hammering the empty Kar98 & M1 Garand rifles into the soft dirt, then placing the metal green and stalhelm helmets ontop of each rifle. As the sun started to go down at the end of dawn. Shepard looked out at the graves of the fallen and put his head down to say a small prayer.

"Lord and Spirits. Take heed of these honored soldiers who fell in battle into your home. May they not feel pain nor suffering and honored and loved by those who remembers them. Amen." Shepard said.

"Amen." Everyone replied.

As the sun lowered down more into the horizon, Garrus and Ryan started to gather sticks of wood to make a small fire. Javik watched the German soldier as Shepard watched the bright lights and heard the loud booms coming from a large battle to the south as the day slowly became night. He continued watching the battle to the south till he heard a bleep from his omni-tool.

"Hello. Yes this is tech support." Shepard jokingly replied

"Very funny Commander, but it's good to hear your voice again. How is it down there?" Lt. Cortez asked.

"Good for now. The radar bunker is secure and we decided to make camp here for tonight, then we'll leave early morning to continue on our way to a small town of Ramelle. What about you, Lieutenant?" Shepard asked.

"Good for now. I had to fly higher into the stratosphere to dodge enemy fighters. No damage taken. The kinetic barriers absorbed most of the cannon fire as I flew higher, they eventually fell back." Lt. Cortez explained.

"Good. I'll update your map of where we're traveling and contact you in the morning before we leave. Keep me updated." Shepard replied.

"All right, Commander. Sounds good. Cortez out." Lt. Cortez said.

"So there I was. I have four mercs in my line of sight and fired the last clip I had in my rifle. Three headshots with one round and the last guy died...from a heart attack." Said Garrus, as he talked to Pvt. Ryan over one of his stories from his Archangel days.

"That is amazing. One of my brothers would like you."

"Oh. How many brothers do you have?" Garrus asked.

"I have two. One's in the Pacific fighting the Japanese and the other is still at home. You?" Ryan asked.

"I have a sister back home." Garrus replied.

"Where's your home?" Ryan asked.

"Look to the east, there will be a bright blue star, near Orion. My home planet, Palaven is right over there." Garrus explained, pointing to a blue star.

"Hey, Shepard. Everything okay?" Garrus asked, eating another dextro-amnio energy bar.

"Yeah. Just giving Cortez an update of our status." Shepard replied.

"Damm. How long has that battle been going on?" Garrus asked, looking at the bright flashes and hearing the loud booms of cannon fire, still eating his snack.

"Long enough." Ryan spoke, reaching over for his metal pot on the campfire.

"Anyone want a drink?" Shepard said, pulling out a medium flask of whiskey and a N7 shot glass from his utility belt.

"Hell, yeah. I mean yes sir." Ryan said.

"Ryan? Come'on let it out." Shepard smiled.

"Hell yeah, Commander." Ryan smiled.

"Affirmative, Private. Guys?" Shepard asked, pouring it into his shot glass, before passing it onto Ryan.

"Yeah, I'll take one." "Yes." "Ya." Garrus, Javik, and the German soldier replied.

Ryan poured some into his metal cup, then passed it onto Garrus. He looked over to see Garrus pulling out a shot glass and a tiny packet from a cylinder pack on his grey armor. Garrus poured out the whiskey into his shot glass, then passed onto Javik.

"What is that, Garrus?" Ryan asked, watching Garrus pour strange blue powder into the whiskey.

"It's a powder that mixes and changes the chemicals inside the drink into dextro-aminos, while leaving the alcohol and taste intact. So when I drink it I don't get sick and die a horrible death." Garrus explained.

"Oh, good to know. I'll get sick if I drink it, right?" Ryan asked.

"Oh yeah, very." Garrus replied.

"Guys, this is a toast to our new found freindship, with Private Ryan and...Javik what's his name?"

"Karl." Javik replied.

"...Our guest, Karl. This is a rememberance to the fallen both American, German, and to all who fell in battle of this war. Ryan, it was a pleasure meeting you. You're an excellent soldier, same with you, Karl." Shepard replied.

"Thank you, Commander." Thanked Ryan, while Karl quietly nodded with a smile.

They all drank their shots at the same time in silence.

"Commander? This drink...What is it? Ryan asked, feeling the smooth whiskey going down.

"Glad you asked. This is Thessia Moon Whiskey, its a classic blend of different spices with rye." Shepard replied.

"Well, whatever it is. I say it's damm fine whiskey. Probably the best I've ever tasted." Ryan smiled, watching Commander Shepard strap the flask back into the utility belt.

"Glad you enjoyed it, Ryan." Shepard smiled.

"I would like to thank you again, Commander. For helping me out of that tree and on my mission." Ryan said.

"No problem, Ryan. Come'on, time to get some shut eye. We got leave early morning." Shepard replied, after looking at everyone in the group laying on the ground, using the sandbags as a makeshift pillow.

Ryan felt a slight tug on his uniform and woke up to see Garrus picking up the MG-42 and slinging the 7.92x57mm ammo belt over his shoulder. "Good, you're awake. Let's get going, Shepard and Javik already have a head start.

They reached up with Shepard and Javik who were looking at the map as they walked on the trail on the way to Ramelle.

"Lt. We're on our way to Ramelle. We should be there by mid day...Yeah, copy that." Shepard chatted holding his hand to his ear.

"What did he say, Commander?" Javik asked.

"Not much, just a heads up on a German Armored division advancing towards the town of Ramelle." Shepard replied.

"How long?" Javik asked.

"About a day, but we'll know more once we get there." Shepard replied as the squad continued walking down the trail.


	3. Chapter 3: Charlie Company and Ramelle

Chapter 3: Captian Miller.

Captian Miller and his squad were still on their mission to find Private Ryan. They walked up toward the remains of a German radar bunker. He signalled his men to search the area. They all searched around the destroyed bunker to find one German soldier fast asleep in the half-destroyed gun nest.

"Wake up. Com'on! Wake up! Upham! Get over here!" Irwin yelled, waking up the sleeping soldier.

"The hell? These are proper burials." Pvt. Jackson questioned.

"Yeah and I don't think it was that guy. It was somebody else."

"Like who, Reiben? There's not one guy out here for miles except that guy over there by Wade and Upham. If it was another kraut patrol, he wouldn't be here." T/Sgt. Horvath pointed out.

"It's strange though. There's graves for both our brothers and the krauts." Pvt. Jackson said, looking at the rifles that are dug into the soft dirt.

They continued to argue and wonder of how these graves got here, while Captain Miller, Cpl. Upham, and Medic Irwin Wade questioned the german soldier. Both Upham and the german soldier continued to talk with each other for a few minutes, while Medic Irwin Wade walked back to join with the rest of the sqaud. Captain Miller continued to look around at the cratered landscape that surrounded the radar bunker, then quickly turned after hearing the name "Ryan" from Upham as he continued speaking with the german.

"Wait...wait. Go back, Upham. What did he say?" Cpt. Miller asked.

"He said that a American Private named Ryan was here, but with three others." Upham replied.

"Three others? Who? Were they his squad?" Cpt. Miller asked again.

"Yes and...no. One of them, he called himself Commander Shepard and the two others, one of them was a bird alien and a bug like alien...I don't know, he's now talking gibberish." Upham replied, after translating.

"Does he know anything else?" Cpt. Miller calmly asked again, scratching his head, then put his helmet back on.

"No, Sir. He's freaked out of his mind. I'm not going to get much out of him." Upham replied.

"Alright. Let's get him up, leave him for the next US Army patrol. Let's get going. Tell him to march in a thousand paces in direction and we'll be gone and turn himself in to the nearest Army patrol he comes across." Cpt. Miller ordered Upham as another blindfolded the german soldier. "He's a POW, Reiben. We can't take him with us...Our guys will pick him up soon or later." Cpt. Miller replied to much to Reiben's protest.

"The hell, he'll get picked up by his own Wermatch and thrown back into circulation. Captain, you just let the enemy go." Pvt. Reiben said in disgust.

"This so much bullshit." "You got that right." Both Pvt. Mellish and Jackson protested.

"Bullshit? Right, this is bullshit." Cpl. Upham questioned.

They continued arguing over the release of the German soldier who's still completely walking away.

"Get your gear. Let's Go." Cpt. Miller ordered, making Pvt. Reiben drop his gear onto the ground in defiance.

"You heard him, gear up. Captain just gave you an order!" Sgt. Horvath yelled, starring at Pvt. Reiben.

"I'm done here. Letting the German live, but leaving Carpazo to die. Look, Captain. Look at those graves, there is no possible way that one german dug these graves for both the krauts and our fallen brothers." Pvt. Reiben explained, tossing his BAR in a fit of rage, before starting to walk away from the squad.

"Soldier. You're out of line!" Yelled, Sgt. Horvath.

"Yes, sir! Though I hope Mama Ryan's real fuck'n happy knowing that Little Jimmy's life is a little bit more important than our guys! But then again we haven't found him yet have we? Have we?" Pvt. Reiben asked, walking back.

"Reiben, gear up and fall in." Sgt. Horvath ordered again.

"No. I'm done with this mission." Pvt. Reiben replied in disgust, then started to walk away.

Sgt. Horvath had enough of this insubordination, pulled out his M1911 side arm pistol, then aimed it at Pvt. Reiben. "I'm gonna shoot you in your big goddamm mouth!" He yelled back.

"Well, put your money where your mouth is and do it!" Pvt. Reiben yelled back.

Sgt. Horvath and Pvt. Reiben continued arguing with each other as Mike Horvath continued aiming his side arm at Pvt. Reiben. With the rest of the squad trying to convince Captain Miller to intervine.

"Reiben, what's the pool on me up to right now? What…what's it up to? What…what is it…eh…three hundred dollars, is that it? Three hundred? I'm a school teacher. I teach English composition in this little town called Adley, Pennsylvania. The last eleven years, I've been at Thomas Alva Edison High School. I was a coach of the baseball team in the springtime." Cpt. Miller softly spoke to calm the tense situation, making Sgt. Horvath lowereing his M1911 pistol.

"Back home, I tell people what I do for a living and they think well, now that figures. But over…here, it's eh…a big…a big mystery. So, I guess I've changed some. Sometimes I wonder if I've changed so much my wife is even going to recognize me, whenever it is I get back to her. And how I'll ever be able to tell her about days like today. Ah, Ryan. I don't know anything about Ryan. I don't care. The man means nothing to me. It's just a name. But if…you know if going to Ramelle and finding him so that he can go home. If that earns me the right to get back to my wife, well then…then that's my mission." Cpt. Miller continued, then turned to a shocked Pvt. Reiben.

"You want to leave? You want to go off and fight the war? All right. All right. I won't stop you. I'll wont even put in the paperwork. I just know that every man I kill the farther away from home I feel." Cpt. Miller calmly spoke to Pvt. Reiben, much to the squad's shock learning about the true Captain John H. Miller as a person and how he feels about this war. Pvt.

Reiben looked down to the ground, then grabbed his BAR and fell in line with the rest of the squad as he watched Captain Miller walk back to look at the graves of both fallen German and American soldiers. He continued to wonder about everything, then quietly rallied the squad before hiking onward their way to the small town of Ramelle.

Meanwhile on their hike to Ramelle, Commander Shepard, Garrus, Javik, and Private Ryan continued on their long hike. They continued hiking onward minding their own business, till Ryan ran up to Commander Shepard asking him a question.

"Hey Commander? When we get there they might have a commanding officer who might outrank you, like a captain or higher. What will be your backup plan?" He asked.

"When it comes to it, I'll tell them we're mercenaries." Commander Shepard replied.

"It was always fun to be one while I was on Omega and I liked it while we were saving the galaxy from the Collectors." Garrus happily interjected.

"The Collectors? Who were they?" Ryan asked.

"They were my people who were turned into slaves to serve the Reapers. That's who they we're." Javik bluntly replied.

Ryan quickly became silent, then looked away to see a large treeline leading up to a towering bell tower of a church sticking out from the the southeast. They continued walking along the dirt trail to see a few destroyed rubble of the buildings and borded up windows. Commander Shepard quickly pulled out his M-7 Lancer and signaled the squad around him to keep silent and close together.

"Shepard. I'm picking up several thermal blips on my visor. We're not alone here." Garrus wispered.

"Copy that. Javik, Ryan, keep close." Shepard wispered.

"Corporal? What should we do?" One of the soldiers asked as he watched the unknown soldiers with strange armor and weapons walked by.

"Nothing. They may be not enemies or they might think we're the enemy. So keep down and let me do the talking, but keep an eye out." Corporal Henderson wispered, before grabbing his M1A1 Thompson Machine gun. He silently walked around the rubble, then felt a piece of brick fumble underneith his weight, making him slip. Shepard heard a slight noise behind him making him aim his rifle down range to where he heard the noise.

"Whoever is hiding. Come out now." Shepard ordered.

Commander Shepard and his squad aimed their weapons, then lowered them as they spotted another US Army soldier cautiously walking out from his hiding spot with him aiming his rifle at them, then quickly lowered it after spotting Private Ryan standing by the unknown soldier with the red stripe.

"Who are you and who are your... freinds?" Cpl. Henderson asked.

"I'm Private James Francis Ryan of the the 101st Airborne Division, Baker Company, 1st Battalion 506th and this is Commander Shepard, Primarch Vakarian, and Commander Javik." Pvt. Ryan replied, while Shepard and his squad silently waved and the bug-like alien silently nodded.

"Commander? What is the Navy doing all the way out here?" Cpl. Henderson wondered.

"They rescued me and offered to help me on my mission to Ramelle. They may be Navy, but they're excellent soldiers." Pvt. Ryan defended.

"Well, you came to the right place. Welcome to Ramelle...or what's left of it." Cpl. Henderson replied, then waved at his men to come on over.

"What's your orders, Corporal?" Garrus asked.

"This is our main objective. My squad and I were defending this bridge and town with Captain Jennings from an expected attack by the Germans lead by Major Hoess. Then the Germans decided to bomb us with 88s and he died during the bombing. After he died, he gave me command over the rest of the squad. We thought we might never make it till you showed up, now we might have a chance." Cpl. Henderson explained while Commander Shepard and his squad walked with him as the other US soldiers watched them silenty, making Commander Shepard slightly nervous.

"Corporal, your squad. Some of them seem they never seen anything like me before. Mind if you introduce me to them so that we may break the ice." Shepard calmly asked.

"Sure. Men round up. This is Commander Shepard and his squad, Private James Ryan, Commander Javik, and Primarch Vakarian." Cpl. Henderson said as his squad and Commander Shepard and his squad shook hands as they exchanged names to help break the ice between them. Commander Shepard walked away to look at the slow moving water by the bridge alone to contact Lt. Cortez.

"Commander Shepard? May I speak with you privately?" Cpl. Henderson asked.

"Sure. What's wrong, Corporal?" Shepard asked.

"Honestly, I don't think we have enough to properly defend this bridge from the Germans if they do attack. We have a few missles for the launcher, a lot of Composition B for the bridge, about sixty motar rounds with no launcher, and a .30 cal machine gun. Even with the men that I have here, I feel it wont be enough, but well damm sure defend this bridge and give them hell. All I'm asking is will you help us?" Cpl. Henderson asked.

"Hey not a problem we'll help you defend this bridge, Corporal. You might be surprised we have weapons that will make the Waffen-SS run all the way back to Berlin." Shepard replied.

"You will?" Cpl. Henderson asked surprised.

"Sure Corporal. Tell your men the good news and I'll join you in a few minutes." Shepard replied, then watched both Javik and Garrus strangely starting to get along with the US Army soldiers.

"Lieutenant, we've made it to the town of Ramelle and met with another squad of US Army soldiers who are defending this town. I need you to come here and help us to make this place the most defensive base we can make it, before the Waffen-SS decides to crash the party." Shepard ordered.

"Affirmative, Commander on my way. You should be able to see me in a few minutes." Lt. Cortez replied.

Commander Shepard heard the noise of the UT-47A shuttle flying by making the rest of the US Soldiers run for cover as they spotted the strange blue craft landing near the bridge. The US soldiers were very surprised when they watched the strange blue craft opening up, revealing the inside of the craft. They cautiously watched Commander Shepard walking up to the ship, shaking the hand of the hispanic in blue combat armor, and walked inside.

"All right, Cortez. I need all the weapons, gear, ammo, and medi-gel that we have stored. I'll have Garrus to help you out with the equipment." Shepard ordered, opening the weapon and storage lockers in the shuttle.

"Everything?" Lt. Cortez asked.

"Yes, everything." Shepard replied, before walking back outside carrying a Geth Javelin over his shoulder.

"Wow. That's the most strangest rifle I've ever seen. I wonder if I'll be able to get my hands on it." Spoke an amazed Pvt. Weller as he watched Commander Shepard walking out of the strange craft.

"Garrus. Steve needs your help with the weapons and supplies. I'll rally everyone else to help out setting up the defenses before the party crashers get here." Shepard smiled.

"Everyone listen up! Behind me is the UT-47A attack shuttle. Anyone who wants to help out get some food and maybe a new weapon follow Garrus to the shuttle. He and Lieutenant Cortez will help you out and set up before the Waffen-SS gets here. Understood? Move out!" Commander Shepard ordered.

The small platoon quickly ran up to the shuttle, while Corporal Henderson walked up to Commander Shepard to thank him again. The US soldiers acted like kids at a candy store looking at the strange weapons and boxes of supplies that are placed in front of them on a small folding table.

"All right! Listen up! I'm Lieutenant Steve Cortez. I'm the pilot of this craft and the Armory chief. You'll notice these aren't your average rifles. These are just as dangerous as any other weapon you currently carry and some can break your arm if you're not careful. I need one volunteer to help me out around the shuttle...uh Private? Your name?"

"Wilson! Sir!" Pvt. Wilson replied. "You come with me. Garrus Vakarian would you kindly take over?" Lt. Cortez said, introducing Garrus. Then he and Pvt. Wilson entered in to the craft, while Garrus talked to the troops over the weapons that are placed onto the table in front of them.

"Guys, this is called the M-7 Lancer. The same one that Commander Shepard has on his back. With this rifle you can fire all you want and the greatest part, it has unlimited ammo. So there is no need to reload it, but it does overheat. When that happens, just wait for a minute then go back. Now, onto grenades. We have plenty of these to go around. To prime them you push the top button and toss it. We have other rifles as well, we have two M-8 Avengers, two M-15 Vindicators, two M-96 Mattocks, and one Geth Spitfire heavy weapon. Now onto grenades and medi-gel...". Garrus explained to the US troopers on how the weapons and other strange technology in front of them works onto each rifle, while Lt. Cortez and Pvt. Wilson moved small boxes out containing food and other items.

Commander Shepard watched them as Corporal Henderson walked up toward Shepard holding a M-7 Lancer in his hands.

"Hey, Commander thanks again for the supplies and these new weapons I've never seen before. Thought I might grab one and try it out on my patrol." Cpl. Henderson said.

"No problem, Corporal. I tell you what, I'll grab Pvt. Ryan and we'll join you out on patrol to see what is out there." Commander Shepard offered before waving at Pvt. Ryan whose carrying a M1 Bazooka missle launcher.

"What do you need, Commander?" Pvt. Ryan asked.

"Nothing. Corporal Henderson and I are going out for a patrol. Care to join us?" Shepard asked.

"Sure. Lead the way." Ryan replied.

Commander Shepard, Clp. Henderson, and Pvt. Ryan started to walk out on their patrol as the rest of the crew with the US soldiers prepared.

Captain Miller and his squad continued walking onward to the rally point at Ramelle. They continued walking side by side as they hiked throught the bright yellow field of high grass and flowers. Captain Miller heard a slight noise coming from the south. He stopped and turned around before yelling, "Half-track! Cover!".

A Waffen-SS Half-track moved along the field and they watched it pass them, till the heard a loud boom as a missle fired onto the half-track, then it drove further more until it was disabled by another second explosion. "Who's doing the shooting! Who's doing the shooting!" Sgt. Horvath asked.

The squad rose up from the grass and fired their rifles as the German Waffen-SS troopers tried to get out of the burning wreckage. Cpt. Miller quickly ran around telling his squad to flank left and went around to see if there were anymore. As he moved closer to the half-track the rest of the Waffen-SS troopers ran out, then they were immediately cut down by Commander Shepard and Corporal Henderson's gunfire from their M-7 Lancer assualt rifles from cover.

"Hold your fire! Were coming out!" A voice called out and Commander Shepard, Corporal Henderson, and Pvt. Ryan rose out from the grass much to Captain Miller's surprise of what he's observing in front of him.

"That was 2nd recon of the Waffen-SS." Cpl. Henderson explained as he and the squad walked closer to Captain Miller.

"Captain Miller. Charlie Company, 2nd Rangers." Cpt. Miller introduced himself.

"Corporal Henderson. Baker Company, 1st Battalion 506th." Cpl. Henderson replied.

"Private Ryan. 101st Airborne Division, Baker Company, 1st Battalion 506th." Pvt. Ryan replied.

"Commander Shepard. Allied Special Forces, Baker Company, 1st Battalion 506th." Shepard replied, just going with it. Even though he's the oddball of the squad.

"James Francis Ryan?" Cpt. Miller asked.

"Yes, sir. How'd you guess that?" Pvt. Ryan asked.


	4. Chapter 4: Calm Before the Storm

Following Commander Shepard and they followed him back while asking questions about him and his strange armor and equipment.

"You must be the Commander Shepard the German soldier was talking about. Right?" Cpt. Miller asked as they continued walking back into a very well fortified town of Ramelle. Charlie Company looked at the ten men of Baker company who were left, armed with strange weapons they've never seen before.

"Yes, Sir. My squad and I were trying to figure out how we eneded up here in middle of France. While we were looking for more information, we stumbled upon Private Ryan. After a long conversation my squad and I decided to help Private Ryan on his mission." Commander Shepard explained as they walked deeper into the small destroyed town of Ramelle.

"Oh my god. Willie, wasn't kidding." Cpl. Upham wispered as he observed the bird and bug like alien beings helping the soldiers setting up defenses around the bridge.

"My Lord. Grant me the wish to use the rifle I see before me." Pvt. Jackson said to himself after spotting a strange sniper rifle being handed out to one US rifleman.

"Since we're now here, Captain. Would you kindly explain what you needed for Ryan to hear?" Commander Shepard asked, standing by Pvt. Ryan as Captain Miller questioned about him once more.

"James Francis Ryan of Iowa?" Cpt. Miller asked again.

"Yes, sir. Paton, Iowa, that's collect. What's this about?" Pvt. Ryan asked.

"James... I'm here to tell you, your brothers were killed in action." Cpt. Miller replied.

"Which... Which one, sir?" Ryan asked again, confused.

"All of them." Cpt. Miller sadly replied.

Feeling the instant shock, Private Ryan broke down into tears while everyone stopped what they were doing and watched.

"I have my orders to sir, that does not include abandoning my post." Ryan pointed out.

"I understand that...This changes things." Cpt. Miller replied.

"I don't see that it does sir." Said Ryan.

"The Chief of Staff of the United States Army says it is." Cpt. Miller honesty replied.

"Sir. Our orders states that we must hold this bridge at all costs. Our planes have taken out each bridge that cross the Medren, with the exception of two. One alone and this one here. If we let the Germans take it, we'll lose our foothold. Our new ally, Commander Shepard offered to help us hold this bridge with weapons and equipment I would only see in comic books." Cpl Henderson explained.

"They have their orders and the equipment to make a stand. Your work is done here. You got three minutes to gather your gear." Cpt. Miller spoke.

"Sir, what about them? I mean...there...there's barely hardly enough of us...Even with the help from Commander Shepard." Ryan replied.

"Hey. Asshole! One of our guys already died trying to find you, all right!" Pvt. Reiben yelled, shocking Private Ryan.

"Yeah." Cpt. Miller said, nodding his head.

"What was his name?" Ryan asked.

"Adrian Caparzo." Pvt. Mellish replied.

"It doesn't make any sense... It doesn't make any sense, sir. Why? Why do I deserve to go? Why not any of these guys? They all fought just as hard as me." Ryan angrily replied, pointing to all the tired, heavily armed men of Baker Company.

"Is that what they're suppose to tell your mother when they send her another folded American flag?" Cpt. Miller replied.

"Tell her that when you found me I was here and I was with the only brothers that I have left and that there is no way I was gonna desert them. I think she'll understand that. There's no way I'm leaving this bridge." Pvt. Ryan explained, walking around on the bridge.

"Captain, he's right. Ryan reminds me when I was his age. There was a bridge separating armed overwhelming enemy forces and the civilians on a colony. My duty was to defend the bridge at all costs. Most of my men in my squad were badly injured and we were about to lose our position in mere minutes. I ordered my men to fall back. I stood behind, held my ground against impossible odds, and saved the colony." Commander Shepard said as he defended Ryan's decision to stay behind by telling his own story.

There was silence as everyone in Captain Miller's squad quietly held their rifles, then Sgt. Horvath quietly walked up to Captain Miller's side.

"What are your orders?" Sgt. Horvath asked.

"Sargeant, we have crossed some strange boundary here. The world has taken a turn for the surreal." Cpt. Miller replied.

"Clearly, but the question still stands."

"I don't know. What do you think?" Cpt. Miller asked.

"You don't want to know what I think."

"No, Mike I do." Cpt. Miller replied.

"Well, part of me thinks the kid is right. What's he's done to deserve this? He wants to stay here, fine. Let's leave him and go home." Sgt. Horvath said.

"Yeah?" Cpt. Miller asked.

"But... another part of me thinks, what if by some miracle we stay, then actually make it out of here with the help of our new freind and his team. Someday we might look back on this and decide that saving Private Ryan was the one decent thing we were able to pull out of this whole godawful, shitty mess. That's what I was thinking, sir. Like you said, Captain, we do that... We all earn the right to go home." Sgt. Horvath explained his thoughts on the mission pointing to both Pvt. Ryan and the man wearing the strange armor with the red stripe down his right arm.

Captain Miller watched both Private Ryan and Commander Shepard from the other side of the bridge they were standing on. He looked at some of the soldiers of Baker Company who were sitting down eating and watching the situation in front of them. He looked at the strange weapons and equipment that were being given out by two strange alien beings who were standing by a strange blue and white craft with a symbol of a large 'A' and a planet that looked like Earth. He then looked at the tired men of what's left of Baker Company and thought to himself for a minute.

"Okay..okay. Ryan if you want to stay. We'll stay and help you defend this bridge, but I want you stay with Commander Shepard. Commander Shepard? I want to know what that thing is." Captain Miller ordered.

"Captain, I'm happy to give you a short tour. In the meantime, your squad is welcome to help themselves to any food and medical treatment that they may need. Men, if you need a new weapon or might need it repaired go to talk to Primarch Vakarian in the blue silver armor." Said Commander Shepard as he talked to Captain Miller and his squad.

"Welcome aboard, Captain. This is the UT-47A Kodiak Attack drop shuttle. We use it for insertions into hot combat zones or stealthly drop into areas undetected for secret missions. It has two front powerful autocannons that can destroy enemy buildings, armor, and troops. It also has strong armor and shields that can withstand heavy damage and even a deep sea dive. We also have enough supplies for missions that can extend for long periods of time, like this one for example." Commander Shepard explained, giving Captain Miller a tour of the shuttle.

"This is...this is amazing. I've never seen anything like this before. You said it can withstand heavy damage. Could you have Private Ryan stay in here?" Captain Miller asked.

"Sure. This craft also has a heavy manned turret and I can have him give us air support while in we're in combat." Commander Shepard said.

"Commander, Captain. We've got a problem." Lt. Cortez said, as he walked out from the shuttle cockpit.

"What's wrong?" Shepard asked.

"While you were out on patrol, I've got some of the men to help place motion sensors at key points around the area. They're now picking up a large mass headed this way and it's moving quickly." Lt. Cortez said.

"How long till they get here, Lieutenant?" Captain Miller asked.

"I'd say about an hour, two hours tops." Lt. Cortez replied.

"Okay, while the Captain and I formulate a plan with the men outside. Keep me in the loop we don't want any surprises." Shepard ordered.

"Affirmative, Commander." Lt. Cortez replied

While Commander Shepard and Captain formulated a defense plan before the 2nd division of the Waffen-SS arrives. The men of both squads sat down and bantered with each other while they ate their meals.

"Hey. This is really good. I never had General Pow's chicken before. Damm, spicy too." Pvt. Reiben laughed.

"I say this is way better than our meal rations." Pvt. Mellish replied.

"You said it. I like this thing they have plenty of, something called medi-gel. Brilliant stuff." Medic Wade exclaimed.

"What's so brilliant about it, Wade?" Pvt. Mellish asked as he ate.

"Say you get a bullet wound. You slather it on, it cleans the wound, keeps the blood in, numbs the pain, and you good to go." Medic Wade explained.

"Hey, move over. Guys. After we're done eating, the Captain needs to speak to us to figure out the defense plan." Sgt. Horvath ordered before he sat down onto the sandbag near Cpl. Wade.

"Jackson? Hey, Jackson you should get some of this food!" Sgt. Hovath yelled at Pvt. Jackson who's busy chatting with Garrus Vakarian over the comparison between his Springfield and the last two sniper rifles that were left over.

"I've never seen this one before. What is it?" Pvt. Jackson asked.

"This is, the Geth Javelin. It fires a super velocity plasma round at the speed of light. Powerful enough to pierce heavy armor and the scope can see enemies through walls, smoke, you name it." Garrus explained.

"Cool. What about this one?" Asked Pvt. Jackson, pointing to the N7 Valiant that is laying by the shuttle.

"The N7 Valiant, very lightweight, has superp accuracy, very low recoil, good penetration, and quick reloading action. Both of these rifles are great to have. I have to ask, may I see your Springfield?" Garrus smiled as he looked at Jackson's rifle.

"Sure." Jackson replied unholstering his rifle off his shoulder and giving it to Garrus.

"Sweet. I always wanted this rifle. Damm, that's what I thought. The rifle's accuracy isn't that good. No worry, I got this MG42 that I collected a day ago." Garrus explained as he gave the Springfield back to Pvt. Jackson.

"Hmm...If that's the case, may I have the Valiant?" Pvt. Jackson asked. "Sure. Here you go, I'll show you how to reload the thermal clip." Garrus replied as he tought the young marksman.

After they finished relaxing time, everyone gathered around both Commander Shepard, Captain Miller, and Corporal Henderson at a half destroyed building to discuss the plan to defend the bridge.

"Like the Corporal said. When I arrived, he said he only have eight missles left. If the Waffen-SS has heavy tanks, like Tigers. These missles aren't going to do much, unless we have one man to fire it at the back of the tank. Or we can have Ryan and Wilson with Lieutenant Cortez on the shuttle. Ryan on the turret and Wilson with the launcher." Commander Shepard explained to Captain Miller as they talked about the battleplan under the french restaurant.

"We had motar launcher until an 88 took it out, but we have plenty of shells." Cpl. Henderson mentioned.

"We can use this main street and have the Germans funnel through here, like a bottleneck. Have Pvt. Wilson fire the missle at the engine to disable it and make a sixty ton road block." Cpt. Miller suggested.

"I concur to the Captain's plan." Javik said as he walked up behind Commander Shepard.

"Jackson! You can. Let's see if we can get you into that bell tower. Maybe give you a little company if you need it." Captain Miller suggested.

"Yes sir. A little company couldn't hurt.

"I'll go up there with him. It's a perfect vantage point and I'll bring my MG42 with me." Garrus said, pulling out his favorite sniper rifle.

"Garrus, you sure?" Shepard asked.

"We'll be fine. Commander." Garrus replied.

"How are we going get the tank through here?" Sgt. Horvath questioned.

"We give them the rabbit." Cpt. Miller said pointing to a small German Skpf. 30.

"What if run out of missles? What are we going to do about the tracks?" Sgt. Horvath asked.

"We can disable it." Cpt. Miller replied.

"Yeah, but with what?" Ryan asked.

"Uhh. A sticky bomb?"

"A sticky bomb. Sorry that sounds a little made up. No offense Commander." Cpl. Henderson replied.

"None taken." Shepard replied back.

"It's in the field manual." Cpt. Miller said.

"We seem to be out of field manuals, sir. Would you please enlighten us?" Pvt. Ryan asked.

"We have alot of explosives laying around, uh some C4 and Composition B. We get an GI issue sock, cram enough Comp B it can hold, cover it in axle grease, have a small fuse toss it, and it sticks. A sticky bomb. Anybody else has a better plan. I'm all ears." Cpt. Miller explained.

"I do sir. Javik give me your Scorpion pistol. Fine you can have my M-356 Talon. All right pay attention, this pistol fires a small round sticky ball of energy that can melt armor after it detonates. Like any explosive, you don't want to be near it when it detonates." Shepard explained.

"I like his plan better, Captain." Ryan pointed out.

"All right, we'll go with Commander Shepard's plan." Cpt. Miller said walking away over the bridge.

"Captain? Where will I be in all of this?" Pvt. Ryan asked.

"The Commander and I decided you'll be with Lieutenant Cortez and Private Wilson on the shuttle. You'll be safer up there with them." Cpt. Miller ordered.

Everyone started to get prepared and ready for the incoming invasion. Garrus and Pvt. Jackson climbed up the bell tower, while Cpl. Henderson helped them move the MG42 up into the bell tower. Pvt. Reiben and Pvt. Mellish moved the .30 cal MG and it's bullet round strips upstairs into a half destroyed building with them. Lt. Cortez rallied up Pvt. Wilson into the shuttle to help him out with pre-flight checks before taking off, while Commander Shepard and Javik to grab a few more extra grenades and thermal clips for their weapons, leaving a two boxes behind for the heavy shuttle turret.

"Hey, Private? Lock that Bazooka and it's rounds into the weapons locker and where's Private Ryan?" Lt. Cortez asked.

"Don't know sir. He said something about going to look for Captain Miller." Pvt. Wilson replied.

Shepard shook his head. "Cortez, don't worry about it. I'll go look for him. Ready Javik?" Shepard said, before exiting the shuttle.

"Ready." Javik replied, placing his Prothean Beam rifle onto his back.

Captain Miller walked off into a destroyed building to have a moment to himself before the inevitable takes place. He thinks to himself and his hand start shaking.

"Something wrong Captain?" Pvt. Ryan asked, looking at Miller's shaking hand.

"No, no. Nothing is wrong. I'm just thinking of home." Cpt. Miller sadly smiled, quickly turning his shaking hand into a few finger snaps.

"What do you think about?" Ryan asked.

"Well when I think of home, I... I think of something specific. I think of my, my hammock in the backyard or my wife pruning the rosebushes in a pair of my old work gloves." Miller replied.

"Well, this one night, two of my brothers came and woke me up in the middle of the night. And they said they had a surprise for me. So they took me to the barn up in the loft and there was my oldest brother, Dan, with Alice, Alice Jardine. I mean, picture a girl who just took a nosedive from the ugly tree and hit every branch coming down. And... and Dan's got his shirt off and he's working on this bra and he's tryin to get it off and all of a sudden Shawn just screams out, "Danny you're a young man, don't do it!" And so Alice Jardine hears this and she screams and she jumps up and she tries to get running out of the barn but she's still got this shirt over her head. She goes running right into the wall and knocks herself out. So now Danny's just so mad at us. He, he starts coming after us, but... but at the same time Alice is over there unconscious. He's gotta wa... , wake her up. So he grabs her by a leg and he's drag, dragging her. At the same time he picks up a shovel. And he's going after Shawn, and Shawn's saying, "What are you trying to hit me for? I just did you a favor!" And so this makes Dan more angry. He tries to swing this thing, he looses the shovel, goes outta his grasp and hits a kerosene lantern; the thing explodes, the whole barn almost goes up because of this thing. That was it. That was the last, that was, Dan went off to basic the next day. That was the last night the four of us were together. That was two years ago." Ryan laughed as he told his story about him and his brothers as they sat down on the stone steps of the ruined building.

"That was a nice story. It would've been nice to meet your brothers, Ryan. At least you still keep the memories of them and that's what counts." Commander Shepard said as he walked up toward them.

"Thanks Commander. I'm betting Lieutenant Cortez is looking for me, isn't he?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, you should head on over there. It'll give me time to talk with Captain Miller." Shepard said, sitting down on the steps.

"Commander. Thank you for helping us. At first I didn't know who you were, until Pvt. Upham pointed it out to me later on while our walk back to town after we've met you in that field." Miller replied watching Pvt. Ryan walk back to the blue shuttle.

"Well, I did it for him. No problem, Captain Miller. Happy to help. Anyway, The thing that is bothering me is how my team and I are going to get home, but well see what happens." Shepard replied.

"Long way from home?" Captain Miller asked.

"Yeah, think as in when. Before we ended up here, we were leaving a mission until a mysterious portal opened up and everything went blank. I can say this, a lot of crazy things can happen out in outer space." Shepard replied, making Captain Miller giggle.

They continued talking with each other while they watched the rest of the men around them. Garrus and Pvt. Jackson continued to banter between each other, while Pvt. Mellish, Reiben and Sgt. Horvath bantered between themselves about girls, till they heard the loud noise of machinery coming their way.

"Commander, we've got company." Garrus replied over Shepard's comm.

"Miller and I heard it too." Shepard said.

"Commander. Ryan is aboard and I'm about to take off." Lt. Cortez said over the comm.

"Go." Shepard ordered.

"Affirmative! Ryan get on the turret, Wilson get the Bazooka. Hold on tight, you might feel a small pull." Lt. Cortez ordered as he placed his hands onto the holographic panel.

Commander Shepard and Captain Miller watched the shuttle take off into the sky and moved into position, while Pvt. Reiben and Pvt. Watts took off driving in the Skpf. 30 to lead the Waffen-SS to skip the town.


	5. Chapter 5: Battle of Ramelle

"Garrus? What do you see?" Pvt. Jackson asked.

"Relay this information to them. We've got two Tigers, two Panzers, and about fifty troops, plus change." Garrus replied as looked through his rifle scope to see the large metal Tiger I tank driving up with a lot of Waffen-SS troopers running behind. Pvt. Jackson relayed the information down to Captain Miller by using hand signals about the incoming tanks and enemy troops.

"Right we've got, two Tigers, two Panzers...and about fifty troops, plus change." Cpt. Miller said, looking up at Pvt. Jackson who's relaying the information down.

Both Commander Shepard and Captain Miller bunkered down into a large crater by a building aiming thier weapons down range, waiting for the oncoming German onslaught. Shepard peeked out his head to see a large dust cloud forming up ahead and everyone heard the loud mechanized noise getting closer and closer to the town as he heard gunfire from the distance as Pvt. Reiben came running back and dipped into another foxhole. Garrus picked up a large moving group with his visor. He watched the Tiger I tank move up closer to the main entrance to the town as it stopped for a minute, then continued onward. A Tiger I tank and a group of Waffen-SS troops ran behind it in two rows. The hidded US Rangers looked above from the windows, then detonated the hidden charges killing the Waffen-SS soldiers by surprise and tossed molotov cocktails from above into the Marder III tank destroyer.

Commander Shepard and Captain Miller open fire upon the Germans, catching them by surprise. Garrus and Pvt. Jackson opened fire from the bell tower cutting down running Waffen-SS soldiers who are flanking around. He spotted a group of German soldiers breaking off and flanking to the right, he patted Pvt. Jackson about them and Pvt. Jackson relayed the information to Captain Miller down below.

"Commander! We've got Germans flanking off to our right!" Cpt. Miller yelled, then fired his M1A1 machine gun.

"Javik! We've got German soldiers flanking off to our right! I have to hold this area! Take care of them!" Shepard ordered, while waiting for his M-7 Lancer to cool down, then tossed a grenade over the crater hill.

"Affirmative!" Javik yelled in the heat of battle.

Javik's barrier glowed a blue hue as incoming mauser rifle rounds pinged off him. Javik laughed, then returned fire with his beam rifle, disintergrating the German Waffen-SS soldiers into ash. Finding cover didn't help the other Waffen-SS soldiers as they were pulled out by Javik's biotics. A few German soldiers decided to run up toward the strange bug like alien, while their comrades gave them covering fire. Quickly spotting them, he pick them up with his slam power and tossed another biotic grenade where the other Waffen-SS troopers were hiding, quickly forcing the other SS troopers to run for their lives. Pvt. Henderson and Mellish fired the .30 cal as they finished off the German soldiers who were running away from the glowing Prothean.

The Tiger tank decides to move down the same path heading down toward the American line, but was unprepared for the surprise. Shepard waited for a few minutes, aimed the Scorpion pistol at the tank tracks and fired. The side of the tank was engulfed in a purplish blue hue making the tank tracks quickly turn into melted metal, stopping it in it's tracks. With the Tiger I tank disabled, a few paratroopers ran out to climb onto the tank. Shepard spotted a few German soldiers moving a 20mm flak gun. He quickly sprinted into action, tossing a frag grenade and firing his M-7 Lancer into the group of SS troopers, quickly disabling the 20mm flak gun.

"Lt! I've marked a 20mm flak cannon. Danger close!" Shepard yelled over the radio.

"Affirmative Commander!" Yelled, Lt. Cortez

The UT-47A shuttle flew in and Pvt. Wilson fired the Bazooka at the 20mm flak cannon, destroying it and a few SS troopers who were climbing back up to use it. Pvt. Ryan looked over the battlefield, then the blue sky as the shuttle flew out away from the battle. He fired the MG at the oncoming troopers who were running from and to cover.

Pvt. Jackson continued to snipe down each SS trooper who is running from cover to cover. Garrus fired his last round at a trooper who's hiding behind a brick wall. Quickly spotting the tank destroyer moving up, he grabbed the Geth Javelin and charged up a shot and fired. The ferrofluid plasma shot burrowed through the armor of the tank destroyer, killing the driver and the gunner. Garrus watched another SS trooper moved back onto the chair of the gun to aim the cannon at the bell tower. He charges up once more and fired, the round went through the armor, hitting the ammo rack and destroying the Marder III tank destroyer in process.

Another Marder III tank destroyer moved up through the area with several SS troopers running by it's side. Pvt. Mellish and Cpl. Henderson fired the .30 cal through the hole in the side of the destroyed wall. Commander Shepard looked over to see a Tiger tank aiming at where Pvt. Mellish is. Mellish and Cpl. Henderson quickly ran away from the side of the building before the Tiger I tank fired into the building. Commander Shepard gave them covering fire as Pvt. Mellish and Henderson ran across the battlefield to the other second story building. They both quickly loaded up the .30 cal MG and Mellish called for Upham several times, but his voice was drowned out by gunfire.

"Dammit where the hell is Upham!?" Pvt. Mellish asked as he fired the 30 cal MG at the incoming SS soldiers who were tossing in grenades and firing back.

Upham ran from cover to cover dodging bullets as he ran across the street. He heard the loud voices of Pvt. Mellish calling for his name, but then quickly, slowly walked back into cover, and covered down in fear. Javik ran across the battlefield to see Pvt. Upham crying and covering his ears in fear. He quickly ran up to him, "Corporal? You coware in fear as your comrades are calling out for your name. You make me sick, human. You're a soldier, a brave one at best, act like one and you'll become powerful. Now go!" Javik spoke, giving him a moral boost to run up toward Pvt. Mellish.

Running up the stairs, he ran in dropped the rounds onto the ground and quickly ran out before Pvt. Mellish even noticed. Javik looked over from cover to see a small group of SS soldiers with someone fimiliar running up toward the building where Pvt. Mellish and Henderson are. He quickly ran up toward the building with a few mauser rounds pinging off his barrier.

"Agh! I'm out. Wait? Is that extra thrity cal laying on the ground? Dammit Upham!."

"Hey did you hear that?" Pvt. Henderson asked after hearing footsteps.

"Upham?!" Pvt. Mellish yelled, aming his rifle at the door with Cpl. Henderson aiming his M-7 Lancer at the entrance. After no reply he fired the M-7 Lancer with the blue mass effect rounds going through the wall, killing the SS soldier. Another SS soldier fired his MP-40 through the wall, hitting Cpl. Henderson in the neck and Pvt. Mellish fought with the other SS trooper in the room as Cpl. Henderson bled to death. Javik quietly walked up the stairs and heard the loud screams and grunts of the soldiers fighting. Carrying the bazooka, Sgt. Horvath saw a Marder III tank destroyer moving up the destroyed road. He sees the back end of it and fired the bazooka at it destroying the tank and burning the SS soldiers inside of it as they ran out screaming while covered in flames. As Pvt. Mellish struggled with the SS trooper whose ontop of him. He felt the woosh of air between him as Javik lifted the SS trooper off of him and thrown the SS soldier into the wall.

"Private! Leave now!" Javik ordered.

"You don't have to tell me." Pvt. Mellish grumbled, leaving the room to see Upham crying on the stairwell.

Javik and the SS soldier fought each other. Unholstering his knife, the SS trooper swung at the alien whose in front of him. Javik dodged at each swipe and countered by grabbing the arm and rolling toward with a elbow punch to the trooper's face. Karl screamed in pain as Javik sliced the soldier's hand clean off with his omni-blade, then was quickly silenced as Javik stabbed him through the chest. Javik, picked up the M-7 Lancer, held in his hand, and dusting off the ash and dirt of his armor. "Karl, you were A capable fighter, but a undiciplined one at best. It's a shame that I had to kill you."

As more SS soldiers began to overrun the city gaining more ground as they moved in closer. "God give me strength!" *Bang!* As he fired his N7 Valiant at another SS trooper whose running from cover to cover. He continued to fire and speak out more bible verses. He continued to fire more, then pulled once more only to have the weapon jam. "Damm! Garrus! I'm out, do you have any more thermal clips?!" Pvt. Jackson yelled.

"Yeah! My last one! Keep it, it's your's!" Garrus replied tossing over his last thermal clip to Pvt. Jackson.

Jackson looked over at the corner of his eye seeing Garrus unhooking the MG-42. "Cortez! I need a evac at the bell tower! That Tiger tank is moving in and were out of thermal clips!" Garrus yelled over the radio.

"Roger, Garrus. Flying in hot!" Cortez said.

Lt. Cortez moved his hand around as they moved in closer, Pvt. Ryan fired the Heavy Mass Effect MG at the German SS soldiers who were currently firing upon Commander Shepard's position. Reaching the belltower, Pvt. Jackson and Garrus Vakarian quickly boarded the shuttle, much to the surprisement to Pvt. Jackson. Ryan looked over to see two SS soldiers running with one of them holding a long tube with a cover on it. The Panzershrek team aimed their Panzershrek at the strange blue craft above them. "PANZERSHREK!" Pvt. Ryan screamed as the SS team down below fired the HEAT missle. Garrus looked over the side to see the Panzershrek team aiming at them. "Cortez! Missle team on the ground!" He yelled.

"Hold on!" Lt. Cortez yelled, quickly grabbing the shuttle controls making a sharp dodge, but it was too late. The HEAT missle struck the side of the shuttle, making it hit the belltower, scratching the side of the shuttle. The shuttle's kinetic barriers absorbed the hit, making the shuttle jerk to it's side and Pvt. Wilson fell to his death.

Tiger I tank which appeared from the cover of the dust. Maj. Hoess barked his orders to another German soldier to move up and flank around as he leads the tank straight through town. Commander Shepard and Captain Miller fired their rifles at the incoming SS soldiers who were quickly moving in with the Tiger I tank moving in behind. Commander Shepard and Captain Miller continued to fight fiercely, firing their rifles at the incoming German SS soldiers. Commander Shepard pulled out his M-97 Widow and fired at the incoming Tiger I tank, then reloaded again to fire once more. The AP mass effect round penetrated through the chest of a German SS soldier before hitting the Tiger I, making it screech to a halt. Javik and Pvt. Reiben, and Sgt. Horvath met in the large foxhole at the middle of the town where Shepard and Miller were currently firing back at the advancing German SS soldiers.

"I'm out!"

"Five shots left! Reiben! Horvath! Take Captain Miller back up to the Alamo. Javik and I will take care of them! Now Go!" Commander Shepard ordered.

"No! Commander!" Captain Miller yelled, before being pulled back by Sgt. Horvath.

While Captain Miller ran back to the bridge where the other US Army Rangers are holding up. Shepard watched the German soldiers advancing in a quick pace, running over the hill and firing thier rifles at Captain Miller and his men, who were retreating back to the bridge.

"Back to back!" Shepard yelled over.

"Affirmative!"

Commander Shepard and Javik moved into a back to back position, while they fired their rifles at the advancing German SS Stormtroopers. The Germans running over the hill were thrown into the air by Javik's biotic powers as Shepard cut down a few more advancing soldiers who were running up from their sides. The Tiger I tank started to move up toward them in a slow pace and fired it's 88mm Kwk cannon, grabbing Shepard's attention. The shell struck near the building where they were. Shepard patted Javik's shoulder signaling him to fall back. Shepard gave him covering fire as Javik ran back to the other US Army soldiers.

"Where's the Commander?! We're about to blow the bridge!" Sgt. Horvath asked.

"He's staying behind!" Yelled Javik.

"What!?...Is he completely fucking suicidal or insane!" Pvt. Reiben yelled over the gunfire.

"Both! If he survives or we all survive this. I'll buy the whole bar!" Sgt. Horvath yelled.

"I'll hold you to that promise, Mike!" Captain Miller yelled.

The tank fired once more at the little destroyed place where Cpt. Miller called it the "Alamo". His ears were ringing and couldn't hear his men yell. In shock, he slowly got up from the rubble and walked toward where the detonator laid.

"Covering fire!" Javik yelled as he fired his M-7 Lancer at the advancing German forces, while giving Captain Miller covering fire.

Captain Miller continued walking slowly over toward the detonator, then felt a sharp pain as a Kar 98 round penetrated his chest, then slumped to the floor. "Cover me!" Javik ordered before jumping over the sandbag barricade and ran to Captain Miller, who is slowly bleeding to death on the stone bridge. Bullets wizzed across the air and pinged against Javik's green barrier as he used his omni-tool to inject Medi-gel into Captain Miller's wound.

Annoyed, Javik tossed his last biotic grenade over to a small encamped group of SS soldiers. Screams cried out as they were lifted into the air, then silenced as they smashed into the hard concrete. Garrus, Ryan, and Jackson looked over to see the bodies of fallen SS soldiers and a Tiger I tank slowly advancing toward Shepard. Garrus started to drop his weapons, except his M-3 Predator pistol onto the shuttle floor with Pvt. Jackson and Ryan looked at him in confusion. Garrus walked over to the shuttle door and opened it.

"Garrus? What are you doing?" Pvt. Ryan asked.

"My brother is in trouble. I'm not going to watch him die. Cortez, hover the shuttle over the Tiger. I'm going to take it." Garrus ordered.

"Affirmative, Tiger in sight. Firing cannons!" Replied Cortez.

The UT-47A shuttle's ME cannons fired as they flew in closer, cutting down the German SS soldiers who were running behind the tank, dodging oncoming gunfire from both the unknown armored figure fighting in the street and the enemy US soldiers at the bridge. Garrus jumped out of the shuttle onto the top of the tank. Major Hoess heard the loud crash ontop of the hatch and ordered his radio man to go check it out. "NEIN! AGH!" The tank radio man screamed as he was yanked out after opening the hatch. The Tiger I tank screeched to another halt as Garrus entered the tank, killing the Major and the tank gunner. Garrus pushed the hot gun barrel onto the neck of the tank driver and ordered, "Drive.". Following the order, the tank driver continue to drive slowly through the town. "This is cool. Ooh, what's this do?" Garrus questioned before touching the firing trigger. The cannon fired and the shell struck a group of SS soldiers, killing them instantly. Garrus aimed and fired the cannon once more, hitting another half-track. Shepard saw the explosion of the Half-track and looked over to see the Tiger I tank hatch open.

"Commander! You need to get Garrus out of that tank. I'm picking up a Allied transmission on the radio. They're sending in P-51 tank busters and US Army reinforcements. I'm landing at the bridge to meet up with the others. We'll meet you there." Lt. Cortez said over the radio.

"Copy, Cortez...Garrus we've got to go! We've got American reinforcements heading this way with P-51 tank busters!" Shepard replied.

"Alright." Garrus replied with a saddened expression."

"Look. After we're done, I promise to take you to the Arcturus Tank Museum. Maybe I might convince them to let us drive the tanks there. Deal?" Shepard smiled. "Okay...Deal." Garrus replied.

Garrus and Shepard helped each other to get out of the tank just in time before the tank was destroyed in a large explosion. When the rest of the German SS realized what was going on, started to drop their weapons to the ground, raising their hands into the air and quickly surrendered to the incoming American reinforcements. The UT-47A shuttle landed behind where Commander Javik, helping an injured, but alive Captain Miller to the rest of the squad who were celebrating their victory of the defense of the town of Ramelle.

"Hey! Captain we've got reinforcements!" Sgt. Horvath yelled.

"About damm time." Pvt. Mellish said, looking at the large force of US soldiers running in and two P-51s flying overhead. Pvt. Ryan walked out from the shuttle to see a large and strange blue blob opening in the sky, then quickly ran up to fimiliar figures walking within the dust cloud. He wiped the grime, dirt, and sweat from his eyes to see Commander Shepard and Garrus Vakarian walking toward them as more American reinforcements arrived from behind.

"Commander. Thank you for you service. If it wasn't for you and your help. We would've been overrun and Private Ryan wouldn't been able to go home to his mother. Now, thanks to you Private Ryan will able to go home." Captain Miller smiled, holding out his hand making a saluting gesture to both Commander Shepard and his team, then shooked Shepard's hand.

"You're welcome, Captain. Would love to stay for the party, but sadly it is time for my team and I to leave. Our way to go home is open and we only have a few minutes to say our goodbyes." Commander Shepard replied.

Shepard looked over to see Lt. Cortez giving three fingers up and Garrus collecting the weapons back from what's left of the company, much to their dislike. He turned his head and looked at Pvt. Ryan who is currently looking up toward him.

"Commander. It was an honor fighting by your side. Thank you for helping us...all of us." Private Ryan saluted.

Commander Shepard saluted back, "You're welcome, Ryan." Shepard smiled back.

Commander Shepard and Javik walked back to the shuttle where Lt. Cortez and Garrus were making final preparations before leaving. Before, closing the shuttle door, Shepard looked out to see Private Ryan sitting down near Captain Miller and waved at them, then they waved back. Lt. Cortez pushed a few buttons on the console, the craft hovered over the ground and fly deep into the blue sky. Ryan and Miller watched them fly through the bluish opening that was high in the sky, then watched it quickly close.

"Back in Alliance Space, Commander." said, Lt. Cortez

"Good to hear, Lieutenant. Take us home."

Shepard looked over his shoulder to see Garrus playing and taking the barrel out of the MG-42. "Really? Garrus?" Shepard asked.

"Hey it was either keeping this or breaking into the artifact museum again with Kasumi." Garrus said, before smiling.

"That's true." Shepard smiled.

"Shepard? I wonder what the next adventure will be?" Garrus wondered.

"Hmm...Who knows? Let's rest first before jumping into another."

"Agreed, though I'm hoping we can stop at Krogan Burger. I'm getting hungry."

"Well, I will agree with you on that Garrus. Hey...Cortez?"


End file.
